'Trash for food' at Mexico City barter market

Mercado de Trueque – Residents of Mexico City are embracing a creative recycling program that is turning trash into food.

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Mexico City – The Mexican capital is home to more than 20 million people ...

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Mexico City – ... who combined create a mountain of trash. An estimated 12,600 metric tons was being deposited daily in the Bordo Poniente landfill site before it closed late last year. Now, a new barter scheme called Mercado de Trueque is incentivizing residents to recycle more waste.

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Mercado de Trueque – Jose Luis Aranda is one of thousands of locals embracing the government scheme.

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Mercado de Trueque – Aranda and his housemates gather glass, plastic and cardboard and take it to the city's Chapultepec Park.

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Mercado de Trueque – The items are separated, weighed and emptied into recycling bins.

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Mercado de Trueque – In return, Aranda and his friends receive 300 "green points" between them.

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Mercado de Trueque – The vouchers are exchanged for fresh food produced by local farmers, who are subsidized by the local government.

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Mercado de Trueque – For Aranda it's not just about buying vegetables to eat. He also picked up baby lettuce plants which he says he will grow at home. "In a month, I'll have 14 big lettuces that I can come back and sell here," he says.

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Mercado de Trueque – Aranda and a housemate leave the market with a haul of fresh vegetables and the satisfaction of knowing that recycling their unwanted waste has proved profitable for them and the local environment.

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Story highlights

New bartering scheme in Mexico City helping residents exchange trash for fresh food

The Mercado de Trueque encourages people to recycle paper, glass and plastic

In return, residents receive vouchers that are exchanged for produce at a farmers' market

A new barter market in Mexico City is helping residents trade their trash for food in an effort to reduce the mountain of waste produced by the mega city.

Mexico City's huge, infamous Bordo Poniente landfill site was receiving 12,600 tons of waste a day -- one and a quarter times the weight of the Eiffel Tower -- before it was shut down in December last year. But although the landfill is is no longer in operation, the city keeps churning out trash.

That's why the local government has launched several measures to reduce the waste created by the 20 million people who call the city home.

The Mercado de Trueque began in March this year and has proved an instant hit with residents.

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Trading waste for food

Jose Luis Aranda is one of thousands of locals who are now making regular visits to the market held once a month in the city's Chapultepec Park. Along with his housemates, Aranda brings along glass, plastic and cardboard waste, which is separated and weighed. He is then given vouchers, which can be exchanged at a nearby farmers' market.

The vendors at the market hail from local farms, adding the benefit of attracting shoppers to locally produced food.

For Aranda, it's not just about buying vegetables to eat. He also picks up baby lettuce plants, which he plans to grow at home and sell at the market when he visits again.

If he does, it would bring the city's plan full circle, essentially turning trash into food.